The Third Out
by giolicious
Summary: This is a short fic written in Gio's perspective. Basically it's his thoughts during and immediately after the Mode-Elle softball game. I wanted to be able to justify Betty choosing Rome! This may just be a one-shot. I haven't decided yet. Please review!


**The Third Out**

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**A/N**: This is my very first fanfic. I wanted to write it in Gio's perspective, and I wanted to explore what could have happened during and immediately after the softball game. Mainly, I wanted to be able to find a way for Rome to still happen :) Please tell me what you think. It's very short! I write plenty of stories, but I've never written a story where the characters are another writer's creation and the need to get the dialogue just right was so important. It was definitely an interesting exercise. Thanks for reading!

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Gio sighed softly. He looked over to center field, his eyes alighting on Betty's woebegone figure, her shoulders slumped in defeat. He didn't want his expression to add yet another burden for her to bear, but he knew his face reflected his sadness.

He asked himself, "Why'd I have to go and fall for a girl like B?" A girl you'd want to settle down with, a girl you'd want to be along for the ride when she came into her own, a girl you'd want to love… She was someone who could match wits with him, who challenged him, who made him ache to show her how beautiful she really was.

Contrary to popular opinion, Giovanni Rossi was a one-woman man. Oh sure, he played the field like any normal guy, but when he found a girl he could be serious with, he was focused and committed. And boy, was he committed.

He thought back to yesterday, when he had asked her to join him on his trip to Rome. He was worried that he was going too fast, but god knew he wasn't the type of guy to wait around for something to happen. He felt that a person had to make their own luck. Seize the day, as the saying goes. Rome was an exciting and romantic city, and he had wanted to take her away to some place empty of the memory of Henry and her sadness. He had wanted them to be together and to get to know each other in a new space without any ties to the past. She'd seemed so excited and happy yesterday, as they were making their plans. They were going to go visit the amazing _Fontana di Trevi_ in the _Palazzo Poli_ and eat at one of the bakeries he'd read about, Josephine's Bakery, near the _palazzo_**.** He'd almost begun to believe that she was starting to get over Henry. But today, she had avoided him like he had suddenly become _persona non grata_.

It may have been a bit of jealousy that prompted him to tell Henry that he and Betty were going to Rome. It was not his best piece of work. But could you blame him? He'd played fair and waited his turn. If anything, he had been utterly shell shocked by the news that the other guy had popped the question. Although he was hurt that he did not learn about Henry's proposal from her own lips, he understood her confusion. She had to be under a hell of a lot of pressure. If only she had come to him, he could have… He could have _what_ exactly, he wondered. He may be a good guy, but he'd be damned if he'd let Henry muscle his way back into their lives and take _his_ chance to be with Betty away. This time around, he wasn't in the mood to take another sucker punch and then give the guy advice.

He shifted his gaze to right field. He bore his narrowed eyes right into Henry's head, willing him to disappear. It didn't work. More than anything, more than the fact that Betty just might accept Henry's offer, he hated the guy for being so self-absorbed and self-assured. Had he even given a thought to how it would affect Betty, having him pop back into her life after all that had happened? Had Henry considered Betty's dreams? Did the guy even realize that she had her own life to live? Henry was toying with Betty's emotions and playing with her head by offering the fantasy of a perfect "happily ever after." Was the guy clueless, sadistic, or just hopelessly in love?

Gio was jolted out of his reverie by the loud crack of a ball and bat making contact and a fast approaching pop-fly. He didn't think, he just reacted, running toward the ball with his glove extended, his eyes trained on its flight path, looking neither left nor right. The next thing he knew, he had collided with something soft, and down he went. He opened his eyes and groaned. His head hurt. What had happened? He unsteadily picked himself up off the ground. A crowd had gathered in a circle around someone laid out spread-eagled on the grass. He joined them and looked down. Betty was lying at their feet with her eyes closed. "Betty!" he heard himself say out loud with concern, in unison with another voice. He looked up: Henry.

While the crowd of Mode and Elle team members milled about, trying to decide what to do to revive the knocked-out center fielder, she came to with a start. Her eyes opened wide, she took a deep breath and said, "I know what to do." Everyone looked down at her perplexedly. Betty opened her glove and held it aloft in the air. They could see the ball resting there in her mitt: a perfectly caught pop-fly. The umpire yelled, "Out!" That was three. Mode gave up the field and headed towards the dugout.

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After the game, Gio sought Betty out. He wasn't in the least interested in the beginnings of a party erupting on the Mode bench. He saw that he wasn't the first to approach her. His steps slowed as he watched Betty put her hand on Henry's cheek and then dropped it to her side. Henry was walking away from her, but nothing in his body language gave any indication what had resulted from their conversation.

"Betty…"

She turned around and looked at him with steady eyes. She no longer looked unsure or confused, and she met his gaze squarely. Her composed expression proclaimed that here stood a woman who had made a momentous decision. What had happened when she was unconscious, he wondered again.

He stared into her face, his own carefully masked. He got it out before she could speak, "Before you say anything, I wanted to tell you that whatever you decide, I respect it. I want you to be happy. I meant what I said before. If you don't want to go to Rome with me, just tell me. All I need to know is that you care about me because I care about you, Betty." He couldn't prevent himself from biting out the last sentence in a tightly-controlled voice.

"I care about you too, Gio."

Gio exhaled his breath slowly, "What's it gonna be, B?"

She responded with a hint of sorrow, "I'm not marrying Henry. I told him he needs to concentrate on being Nate's father. I can't move to Tucson to be with him, away from my family and friends. That's not the type of person I am."

Gio nodded guardedly. Not marrying Henry did not equate to Betty deciding to be with him.

"I really am getting over him. But I'm not done yet, Gio."

Gio nodded again. He wanted to put his arms around her, but he didn't have that right. He didn't even know if she would welcome it.

"But it's time for me to just be and to stop waiting around for good or bad things to happen to me. That's not the type of person I want to be anymore, you've helped me to see that."

Gio barely nodded, his thoughts in tumult.

"I'll never achieve my dreams without fighting for them. I can't always ask people what the best thing to do is. I'll never complete my five-year plan if I can't make decisions for myself and then live with them. I want to live life to the fullest."

Gio gave another imperceptible nod, hope rising.

"I think a good place to start is in Rome."

Gio felt his face relax, as if he had been unconsciously clenching it in anticipation of hurt. Relief and happiness flooded his body. "Remember what I said B. I'm never gonna be the rebound guy. I don't want to be some guy you're just settling for."

"I know and you aren't."

He opened his arms and Betty stepped into them, their eyes meeting as their foreheads touched. She felt so damn good in his arms, like she was made for them. It had felt like forever since he had last held her in the park, just yesterday. Suddenly without warning, she grabbed his face in her hands, pulling his lips to hers. And then she frenched him, but good.


End file.
